Amateur radio operators travel to far away and exotic places to communicate with other "hams". Such an expedition is often called a "DXpedition", an expedition to do distance communication. The "100 pound DXpedition" describes my quest to do these DXpeditions with a minimum of equipment and maximum fun.

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Packed

I am packed. Dave now has the computer that would be used for log processing should my internet connection on the island be insufficient to the task. Everything has been weighed, reweighed, inventoried, and tucked into their respective bags. I am ready.In the end, the FT-817 was left out of the mix. The radio, LDG tuner, and accessories bag weighed upwards of 8-10 pounds. If I was going alone, I would figure out a way to take this backup radio (or some backup radio). But, I'm going with 6 other hams, with about 4 or 5 other radios, and there is a radio sitting at Gingerbread Hill left by a previous ham so this need isn't so pressing this time. Of course, the very fact that I'm going with other hams (and we'll have simultaneous operations) means I needed to bring about 8 pounds of band pass filters plus extra coax. So, I guess it all evens out in the end.Here is what the final tally was for the bags:

Pelican 1610 - 68 pounds.

REI red duffle - 48 pounds

Vault golf bag - 63 pounds (to be split up, 13 pounds going to one op, another op to take the bag of coax, another op to check the golf bag as part of his allocation)

Carry on bag - with clothes

Backpack - with lots of gizmos

I am going to leave coax, fishing poles, that spool of wire, dacron rope, the Bencher paddles, and a number of other items behind when I return. If I can get this stuff to the island, I'll have no problem with weight limits on the way back.My next post should be from the Orlando staging area. Just a few hours to go...